lyric writing

[mikegee]

i usually write lyrics off the cuff, but sometimes its cool to get songwriting ideas from reference books. i have a nice collection of reference books, but my all time favorite is my American slang dictionary. it's like 4 inches thick and has thousands of pages of historical american slang. (you'd be surprised how long some slang swear words have been around...)

anybody out there have a favorite reference book they use?

also, any good songwriting books that you'd like to mention?

[abarnett]

my roomate has that, the 1973 edition. Definitely a classic.

[mikegee]

haha nice... mine is old, like the 1949 edition, an oldie but a goodie

also, another great reference book not many people know about is the roget's thesaurus for words and phrases. it takes the thesaurus to the next level, beyond one word, so you can look up phrases and sayings too. it's excellent

[dolivas]

http://chavs.john-dixon.co.uk/chav-dictionary/

sippin on tea
dallying all the crumpets
tallying all the digits
for me bumpet through all the birds
slavin through the thickets.

[mikegee]

Originally Posted by dolivas

http://chavs.john-dixon.co.uk/chav-dictionary/

sippin on tea
dallying all the crumpets
tallying all the digits
for me bumpet through all the birds
slavin through the thickets.

nice! hehe i had to learn what "chav" is... very cool here's a wiki description:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chavs

thanks for that hookup, cool dictionary...

[AmpMan]

That is a nice book... but does using books in songwriting makes your lyrics not yours? Just a thought.

____________________________
Hummer Parts and Accessories - Hummer Parts and Accessories

[mikegee]

Originally Posted by AmpMan

That is a nice book... but does using books in songwriting makes your lyrics not yours? Just a thought.

____________________________
Hummer Parts and Accessories - Hummer Parts and Accessories

well, like, yeah... if you plagiarize lyrics hehe

but reference books are very useful for word ideas and phrases too, like, trite sayings ie (a penny for your thoughts)

[Jared Kubokawa]

Good writers don't borrow, they steal. Right?

You can always use reference books and still make it your own.